It didn't seem possible that New York's state legislature, long
known for backroom deals that favor entrenched politicians, could do
anything to give itself a worse reputation. Then came a surprise coup
in the state Senate last week.

Now Albany is locked in gridlock as both Democrats and Republicans
claim to have enough votes to block the Senate's business. One judge
has already refused to get involved in the dispute, and Democratic Gov.
David Paterson looks helpless on the sidelines.

Most New Yorkers feel powerless to affect their legislature, and
that goes for most of the members themselves. For decades, every issue
of consequence has been controlled by three men in a room -- the
Assembly speaker, the Senate majority leader and the governor.

Almost all legislation that handles big issues has been ushered
through with no debate and no opportunity for members to modify it. The
result is a political machine that keeps the state's government and
bureaucracies up and running, but has been unable to respond to public
demands for property-tax and other reforms.

Former Democratic state Sen. Daniel Hevesi has put it this way:
"Governance in Albany is so broken that I don't believe it functions
any longer as a representative democracy."

Even so-called reformers are part of the problem. The state's
constitution requires that every 20 years voters be given the chance to
vote on whether to convene a constitutional convention to inject fresh
ideas into the process. The last time the issue came up, in 1997, most
reform groups were either neutral or against the idea of a convention.

Francis Barry, a policy adviser to New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg,
explains why in his new book, "The Scandal of Reform": "The most
serious problem for good government groups was not that a convention
might be run by elected officials but that it might be run by the wrong
elected officials: Republicans."

In the end, a new convention was rejected by voters by a wide margin. Dysfunction-as-usual continued.

Enter Tom Golisano, a populist, an upstate billionaire, and a
three-time independent candidate for governor. Last year, Mr. Golisano
grew upset with the feckless GOP majority in the Senate and poured $5
million into the coffers of Democratic challengers, who won enough
seats to end the GOP's 40-year control of that body.

But Mr. Golisano ended up with buyer's remorse when the new Senate
Democratic majority refused to pass rules that would have made the
budget process more transparent. The final straw came in April, when
Democrats pushed through a budget that hiked spending and raised state
income taxes to a height not seen in the state since the 1960s (the top
marginal income tax rate is now 9%, up from 6.85%).

"It was irresponsible, since the top 1% of earners account for about
half of state revenue," Mr. Golisano told me. "We're the ones who can
-- and will -- leave."

He should know. He's already gone.

Mr. Golisano recently fled to tax-friendly Florida, a move that
saves him $13,800 a day in taxes. But he didn't abandon his political
projects in New York. He demanded and got a meeting with state Senate
Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, reminding him of his pledges last year
to be fiscally responsible. Mr. Golisano claims that Mr. Smith spent
much of the meeting checking his BlackBerry.

Frustrated, Mr. Golisano shifted his support to two New York City
Democratic senators, Pedro Espada and Hiram Monserrate, who staged last
week's coup with the Republicans. The move was quickly denounced as
media outlets noted the plotters appeared to be more upset by being
shortchanged on pork-barrel projects than the violation of any great
principle.

But Mr. Golisano's support came with a price. A new rules package
was quickly unveiled that imposes term limits on the state Senate's
leadership positions and chairmen, requires staff budgets to be
allocated more fairly, and empowers a majority of senators to pull
bills out of committee for a vote.

"It's a beginning," he told reporters. "I hope a lot more gets done."

Yet cynicism abounds. From the outset, Democrats refused to accept
the outcome of the coup. Instead they walked out of the Senate chamber,
turned out the lights, and locked the doors. They also pressured Mr.
Monserrate into flipping back to their side, thus leaving the Senate
divided with 31 votes on each side.

Not to be outdone, Mr. Espada countered by making the legally
dubious claim that because he was elected Senate president last week,
and is therefore also the state's acting lieutenant governor, he has
the power to cast two votes (one as a senator, and second one as
lieutenant governor) to break the impasse.

Messrs. Espada and Monserrate face cloudy futures. The former is
under investigation for allegations that he doesn't actually live in
the Bronx district he represents. The latter has been indicted on state
charges for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. (He has pleaded not
guilty.) If either is forced from office, one of the parties will gain
undisputed control of the Senate.

But unless that happens quickly, what's needed is for lawmakers to
find a way to get beyond the mudslinging and focus on the state's core
problems -- a deep recession, and a government that's raising taxes
when employers are hurting in order to finance irresponsible spending
on health care and education. (New York spends twice the national
average per Medicaid patient and 63% more than the national average on
education.)

Republicans have been complicit for so long in New York's budget
mess that Dean Skelos, the Republican senate leader, needs to do more
than promise reforms down the road. John Faso, the 2006 Republican
candidate for governor, says an acid test should be whether Mr. Skelos
and other Republicans can push through a cap on property taxes used to
fund education spending increases. The cap, popular with homeowners, is
reviled by teachers unions and politicians in Albany.

The coup in Albany has been a messy affair. But with the state
government long hostage to its own arrogance, any disruption raises a
potential for positive change. Mr. Golisano deserves points for
providing that disruption, even though he has left the state.

Re: AHA! NYS Senate coup explained!

on the news they've been pushing to withhold the senate's paychecks for as long as the coup has bee lasting - about 2 weeks now. Then the gov. noted that since there is no one in charge that there is also no one to sign the paychecks - so he's fine with letting the pay sit until people get their sh!t together. I think most people agree with this.

I'm gong to continue to blame Patterson. This entire episode could have been avoided if he'd bothered to appoint a Lt. Gov. sometime in the 15 months he's been in office, as the vacancy was what allowed the senator from the Bronx to claim two votes. Knowing that the balance was that close and not filling the seat is ridiculous.

Given the uproar over Sanford's disappearance, you'd think more people would be demanding that he appoint someone, although most people probably aren't aware that it wasn't automatically filled by someone when he stepped up.

Most New Yorkers feel powerless to affect their legislature, and that goes for most of the members themselves. For decades, every issue of consequence has been controlled by three men in a room -- the Assembly speaker, the Senate majority leader and the governor.

Almost all legislation that handles big issues has been ushered through with no debate and no opportunity for members to modify it. The result is a political machine that keeps the state's government and bureaucracies up and running, but has been unable to respond to public demands for property-tax and other reforms.

Former Democratic state Sen. Daniel Hevesi has put it this way: "Governance in Albany is so broken that I don't believe it functions any longer as a representative democracy."

...

Mr. Fund is a columnist for WSJ.com.

That annoys the hell out of me. I'm still bitter about Bloomberg's congestion pricing not even going to a vote.